


My Feelings Are Not A Mirage

by SleuthingSherlock



Category: Apex Legends (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Apex Games, Blood and Violence, Cigarettes, Flirting, Fluff and Angst, Forgive me if Mirage isn't in character, Fuse is trying so hard to flirt with this dumb boy, I wanted to write Mirage Angst so that's what this is, I will add more tags as I go, I'm still learning how to write him, I've never written about him before, It is the Apex games, M/M, Maggie - Freeform, Mirage Angst, Mirage doesn't know when people are flirting with him, Mirage is in his feels, Mirage is probably out of character, Rain, Real names for Mirage and other legends, Season 8, Smoking cigs in the rain, Walter and Elliott, but its really brief and only one sentence, dont come for me, one mention of suicide, probably not correct lore, tw: Mentions of Suicide
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 18:13:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29580075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SleuthingSherlock/pseuds/SleuthingSherlock
Summary: On a losing streak in the Apex Games along with a new legend, Walter Fuse, Handsome, Australian accent, Confident, Mr. I have a big boat, Fitzroy joining the games and gaining the attention of everyone and every fan, Elliott Witt is no longer feeling at the top of his game anymore. In fact, he's feeling more down in the dumps than usual.
Relationships: Fuse | Walter Fitzroy & Mirage | Elliott Witt, Fuse | Walter Fitzroy/Mirage | Elliott Witt
Comments: 9
Kudos: 42





	1. Cigarettes and Rainfall

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, so if you clicked on this story, um thank you first of all. Second, ummm, I've never written for the Apex fandom before. I play the game nearly every day, but I'm gonna be completely honest, I don't follow the lore that closely nor do I know absolutely everything about every legend. So I wanna apologize if anything in this is incorrect about Mirage or any other legends. I honestly barely know all of their real names lol. 
> 
> Trigger Warning for Anyone who needs it: I do mention the thought about suicide, but it is literally for only one sentence and I don't use the actual word, but thought I'd go ahead and warn you just in case. 
> 
> Trigger Warning: Smoking Cigarettes (Idk if that needs a warning or not) 
> 
> I honestly don't know where I was going with this. I probably won't' even make it into a story or anything. I just really wanted to write some angst with Mirage. I also wanted to write something with Fuse and Mirage because I actually ended up really kind of shipping them. (I mainly shipped Mirage with Crypto, but I haven't found the inspiration to write about them). SO, I hope you enjoy this small tidbit of a story into how I perceive Mirage to an extent. Sorry again if he's out of character or anything, I've never written or had dove into his character in writing ever. I also know only a little about Mirage's backstory and I may have gotten stuff wrong about his mom? I'm not sure. If I find out that I did I'll try and go back and change anything I've gotten incorrect, but I honestly doubt many people will read this. 
> 
> If you like it, leave me a comment or kudos!
> 
> I mainly listened to the song Rosyln - Bon Iver while writing this with rain sounds in the background.

Elliott sat at his bar staring down at the amber liquid that sloshed a little in his glass. Everyone in the bar was either celebrating their gambling wins on the Apex games or getting as drunk as a skunk. It was the end of the week for the games and Elliott’s next match was in about two weeks or so. He’d been doing very poorly recently in light of the Apex games. Well, he’d been doing very poorly in general, but not many people noticed behind the fake charm and flirty smiles he always put on. It’s all they were. A show. A... _mirage._ Scoffing at his own thoughts, he brought the glass to his lips and downed the amber liquid. It burned his throat but he welcomed it.

Elliott flagged down the bartender, who gladly filled up his glass again before walking away to tend to other customers. Elliott looked down into the amber liquid again. It wasn’t just the losing streak he was on with the Apex games that were getting him down. Of course, it sucked to lose. Not to mention when you lose and people bet on you and lose money, oftentimes those people come storming to him pissed. He’d dealt with a few already this week who demanded an outrageous amount of money from him. Honestly, he didn’t understand how these people had the audacity to ask for the money _they_ gambled away from him just because he lost the games. It was unbelievable, but it happened and unfortunately a bit more frequently. 

Elliott was just having an off...month. He didn’t feel right. He always felt drained and then...Fuse showed up. Mr. I have a big boat. Mr. I am a Handsome Australian Legend. Ooooh, Look at me with my eye patch and a robot arm. Elliott felt his mood worsen. Fuse wasn’t a bad guy, Elliott was just in a bad mood. He actually seemed like a pretty nice guy, but Elliott hadn’t gotten a chance to have a proper conversation with the guy. He was always off doing interviews or talking with the other legends.

In all honesty, Elliott felt a bit intimidated by him. He was handsome, confident, interesting, and he had a sweet accent. Not like him who butchered every single word and stuttered at the stupidest times. He wasn’t even entirely sure the other legends even _liked_ him. It seemed like they all just _tolerated_ him. He didn’t truly believe any of them really thought of him as a friend except maybe that talking robot. They would all leave….eventually. Just like his brothers. Just like his mom- 

Elliott swallowed, his emotions getting the upper hand on him for a moment, but he reeled his thoughts in and they settled. His mom wasn’t going anywhere, but her memory definitely was. The thought made his mood dampen even more. He pulled his eyes up from his glass and glanced around the noisy bar. Everyone was having a good time it seemed. No one approached him though. Why would they? Octavio and Ajay were sat at a booth on the other side of the bar, laughing and talking. Makoa joined them shortly. Elliott watched them for a moment. He tried to imagine joining them, but he just couldn’t see himself fitting in.

Elliott tore his eyes away from them just as the bar erupted into cheering. Startled, he looked toward the entrance and saw none other than Fuse step through the door. He laughed, bowing theatrically as people congratulated him on his Apex winnings. Elliott turned away, feeling anxiety slink up his spine. He no longer wanted to be in the vicinity. Walter Fuse Fitzroy took a grand ole seat at Elliott’s bar and thanked the people who gave him pats on the shoulder. The bartender slid a beer towards Walter and he caught it with ease, saying “Cheers mate.” Elliott shrunk on the other end of the bar as people crowded around Walter. He tried to ignore him since he wasn’t finished with his drink yet, but he couldn’t help but sneak a peek up at the Outland’s newest Apex Legend. Elliott found himself feeling a flare of envy course through him. He always tried so hard to be the person in the spotlight and Walter ate it up like it was nothing. He was a natural.

Suddenly, Walter’s eye met Elliott’s eyes and Elliott turned his head away so fast he nearly gave himself whiplash. He felt his cheeks redden and he buried his face in his glass, taking a long-drawn-out sip even though it burned going down. When Elliott got the courage to take a peek at Walter again, the man was clinking beers with some random guy, who must have bought him a round of shots since the bartender was currently pouring some in front of them. 

Elliott watched him for a moment longer before pushing away from the bar and turning on his heel, heading out one of the back doors. It was raining when he stepped out of the warmth of the bar. _How fitting,_ he thought. Elliott sat on the edge of the steps leading away from the door. He didn’t feel like getting soaked, so he thought he’d sit awhile. At least he could breathe out here. He heard the bar erupt in cheers again and laughter. Elliott felt his heart pang and he buried his head in his arms as he rested them on his knees. 

“Are you okay, Friend?” 

Startled, Elliott’s head shot up, nearly coming out of his skin. Standing in front of him was Pathfinder’s tall, blue form. His red robot eye glistening in the rain that pelted his metal body. 

“Jesus, Path. Warn a guy next time you appear out of nowhere.” 

“You look quite depressed, Mirage. Perhaps a high five will cheer you up?” Pathfinder held up his hand. 

Elliott grimaced. “I’m okay,” He sighed, but gave Path a half-assed high five, “Just tired. It’s been a long week.” 

“The week is the exact length as the other week’s. It’s impossible for it to be longer than any of the other weeks.” 

Elliott shook his head slowly, “Uh...right.” 

Thinking Pathfinder would leave him be and head inside the bar to socialize with the others, the strange robot took a seat right next to him, making him scoot over a bit. The robot looked out at the street and the rain falling. They were quiet for a moment and Elliott felt a little awkward if he was being honest. He was friendly with Pathfinder as much as any other legend, but he wasn’t entirely sure what to say to him if anything.

“Do you...ever feel sad?” Elliott surprised himself with the words. 

“I don’t know,” Pathfinder said matter-of-factly, “I know I feel things, but they are all good.” 

Well, what did he expect? He was talking to a robot. A very...nice robot. Elliott smiled a little. “Thanks for sitting with me.” 

“Anytime, you’re my best friend.” 

Elliott doubted that since Pathfinder practically said that to everyone. “Sure.” He murmured, “You can head inside if you want to.” 

“Okay.” Pathfinder stood and left Elliott. Warm light flooded from inside as Path opened the door and headed inside. Elliott felt cold suddenly when the door shut and he debated about going back inside since it seemed the rain wasn’t letting up anytime soon. 

Before he could decide, however, the door opened again and Elliott looked to see a surprised Fuse standing there. “Oi sorry about that, hope I didn’t startle ya. Just came out here for a smoke.” 

Elliott’s mouth went dry and it was a moment before he found his words. “No worries.” 

“Will the smoke bother ya? I can always head somewhere else-” 

“No, it’s alright. It doesn’t bother me a b-b-bi-...at all.” Elliott’s cheeks flushed at his stutter. Walter seemed to study him for a moment, the corner of his mouth ticked up a little underneath his mustache. Elliott scooted over a bit more to give him some room to stand or sit, he wasn’t entirely sure. He heard the sound of a lighter flare up and then smelled the familiar smell of cigarette smoke. In a weird way, it kind of calmed him. 

They were both quiet, listening to the rainfall on the concrete ground. Elliott felt a little tense. He didn’t expect anyone to come out here nor show up as Pathfinder did. Most people chose to smoke out front. 

As if to make matters worse, Walter took a seat right next to Elliott just as Pathfinder did, although Walter seemed to sit closer without realizing. He had cigarette lit between his lips and inhaled the smoke before releasing it. Elliott watched it dissipate in the rainy air. 

“You’re...Mirage...right? I don’t think we’ve properly met yet.” 

Elliott felt his heartbeat tick up a notch. “Yes. That’s what they call me in the ring.” 

“Well, what do they call you outside the ring?” 

“Elliott Witt.” 

“Oh?” Walter smirked, “Well it’s nice to meet ya, Elliott. I’m Walter, but I guess you already knew that eh?” 

Elliott nodded. Walter held out his metal hand, which was glistening in the rain. Elliott stared at it before slowly taking it in his own. Walter gave him a nice, firm handshake. Elliott noted the coolness of the metal hand. He wondered if Walter could feel his hand. 

He let go of Elliott’s hand and inhaled his cigarette smoke again. They were quiet as the rain-filled their silence.

“I saw you sitting alone at the bar.” Walter suddenly said. 

“Oh, yeah. I just...came out for some air.” Elliott lied poorly. 

“Can I ask ya, somethin’ mate?” 

“Uh…” Elliott paused and shrugged, “I guess.” 

“Look I know we just met or whateva, but…” Walter paused and Elliott took a glance at him, he seemed to be studying him, “Are you alright?” 

Puzzled, Elliott scrunched his brows together, “Yes?” 

“You see I’m pretty alright at reading people and at the bar, even the briefest of glances can tell me a lot about someone and you-” He pointed a metal finger at Elliott, who shifted under his stare, “You seem like you’re a bit down in the dumps mate.” 

Elliott squinted at Walter. _What?_ “Are you messing with me right now?” He frowned, “Did Octavio put you up to this?” 

Walter burst out laughing and Elliott felt his cheeks redden, a flush of embarrassment coming over him. 

“Messin’ with ya? What makes you think that?” Walter genuinely asked but Elliott felt embarrassed so he looked away. 

“I don’t know. They do it often, so I never know.” His frown deepened, feeling as if he needed to defend himself. 

“No...I ain’t messin’ with ya.” Walter stubbed out his finished cigarette and to Elliott’s surprise, he lit up another one. Was he choosing to stay out here with him? “Is somethin’ botherin’ ya?”

“No…” Elliott trailed off. What would he even say? _My life’s falling apart, I’m on a losing streak in the apex games, the only good thing in my life is spending what I have left of it with my amnesiac mother who doesn’t even remember me? All of my brothers are missing. Probably dead. Who knows. I have little to zero friends who actually like me. The other legends only tolerate me. Most of them probably find me annoying. If it weren’t for my mother I’d have purposely offed myself a long time ago? Wow. That went dark._ Elliott pulled away from his thoughts to Walter staring at him with his only good eye. Walter sucked on his cigarette and Elliott watched the smoke once more. “They’re probably waiting on you inside.” 

“Eh. They can wait.” Walter shrugged, “Look I ain’t tryna bug ya or nothin’ just thought you may need an ear to listen to you, sorry if I got it wrong, but-” 

“It’s okay. Really.” Elliott said quickly, cutting him off, “Don’t worry about it.” Elliott flashed him a charming smile that he saved for the show he put on during the games and Walter raised an eyebrow before stubbing out his second cig. 

“Well, if you ever feel like hangin’ out, ya know where to find me.” Walter gave him a crooked smile and Elliott cocked his head. _Hang out?_ Usually, he just hung out in his room alone talking to his….mirages. _That sounded so lame._ He thought. And just pathetic really, but that was his reality. “I wouldn’t mind getting to know ya a bit more. Being new and all can get a bit...lonely.” 

“Oh.” Elliott felt surprised, but it was quickly dampened because he was sure Walter would have no issue making friends with all the other more popular legends. He seemed like he’d get along well with Octavio. They had explosions in common. 

“Anyways, I’ll see you around, hopefully?” Walter grabbed Elliott’s shoulder and gave it a light squeeze, “Try to stay dry. The storm doesn’t seem to be letting up anytime soon, eh?” 

“Yeah…I will.” Elliott watched Walter stand, and open the door leading into the bar. Warm light flooded the small space on the steps. The smell of alcohol hit his nose pretty hard as well as the sound of laughter and glasses clinking coming from inside. Walter turned and despite having only one eye, he gave Elliott a flirty wink, and then the door was closing, the warmth from inside leaving with it. 

A bit stunned by the entire interaction, Elliott could still feel the grip of his hand on his shoulder. He suddenly wanted to go inside. What was stopping him from going inside and taking Walter up on his offer to hang out? Nothing- Except, Elliott sat for a bit while longer on the steps, lost in thought and debating the pros and cons. It could have been a joke. He pulls pranks on everyone, perhaps this was just a rather cruel one? It crossed his mind, but he tried to ignore that one. He didn’t think anyone would go to such a length just to prank him. 

Deciding he was sick of the cold rain and concluding he let enough time pass since Walter went inside, he stood up and stepped inside. The warmth of the bar made him sigh with relief. It felt good. The bar was a little less crowded now. It was getting on later in the night and people were starting to thin out, but there were still a few patrons and other familiar faces lingering around. Elliott immediately noticed one of those faces was in-fact Walter. He’d been slightly hoping the man had gone home by now, yet here he was, socializing with a few other regulars of the bar.

As if feeling eyes on him, Walter looked up from who he was speaking to and met Elliott’s eyes from across the bar for the second time that night. Instead of immediately looking away, Elliott found he let himself linger on their locked eyes for a beat longer. Again, Walter threw a wink his way and Elliott swore to himself that his heart did _not_ in-fact skip a beat. Trying not to be rude, Elliott gave a half-hearted smile back. 

Trying to find something to distract himself with, Elliott headed for the bathrooms, and little did he know Renee saw the interaction with Walter and him. She’d been watching Walter closely. She was always suspicious of the new legends that joined the games, but Walter seemed like a decent guy compared to some of the other legends such as Caustic and Revenant. 

The voices in her head, surprisingly, had something to say about what she witnessed. _That was interesting._ One said. _What was that about?_ Another said. Renee found herself wondering the same exact thing. She hummed into her drink before being brought back to Natalie telling her something. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoa, another chapter? Who would've thought? Lol, I did say that if I was able to get inspiration I'd try to continue this until I evidently get writer's block and abandon this story like my other ones. (Well that is a little negative, maybe that won't happen?) I actually have a few cheeky ideas for this, so I'll see what happens with this story. 
> 
> Thanks for the kudos and comments by the way. I appreciate it. I'm honestly surprised people are reading this lol. Again, sorry if Mirage is out of character or if Fuse or any of the other legends, I mentioned before that I'm sort of learning how to write them and also kind of putting my own interpretation on them. I hope that is alright. I like to think that Mirage is a bit awkward and unsure about stuff even though he usually acts like he knows everything/everything revolves around him. That's just how I like to imagine him. Kind of like, he wants people who don't really know him to perceive him one way (like in the games and in the media) when really he's kind of another way inside. IDK just roll with it. 
> 
> One other thing, I made it to where all the legends live in a single compound together? Kind of similar to like dorm rooms? Since I don't actually know where they all live and honestly it is easier for them to interact when they're all together in one place. 
> 
> For this chapter, I listened to a variety of [s l o w e d & reverb] versions of songs on youtube. 
> 
> Again, Thanks for reading, be kind and leave some kudos or comments if you enjoy this so far.

A week passed since Elliott’s interaction with Walter at the bar. Unsurprisingly, Elliott hadn’t seen much of Walter since, not that he was looking out for him or anything, no that would be completely ridiculous. 

Despite trying to keep busy with training while also picking up shifts to work at the Paradise Lounge and visiting his mom, Walter’s words seemed to always be at the back of his mind. _“Well, if you ever feel like hangin’ out, ya know where to find me.”_ But, the thing was, Elliott had no idea where to find Walter, not that he would. 

Elliott was currently working a shift at the bar; he picked it up since he needed the extra cash at the moment. His next Apex match was a week from now and he couldn’t help but feel a little nervous. He’d been on a losing streak lately and when he meant losing streak he meant being one of the first teams downed as soon as the match began and ending up in the respawn chamber’s medbay with little to no injuries and then spending the remainder of the match watching the other legends run around the map from a tv screen. It’d been incredibly infuriating, but he supposed he couldn’t win every single match, but he could definitely lose every match if he didn’t start getting his shit together. He wouldn’t be as frustrated if he was coming in third or second or at _least_ top ten, but that wasn’t the case. His next match would be Duos instead of Trios. It seemed the coordinators of the game were switching it up to give a bit of spice to the games. Elliott, however, was more nervous about who he was going to be paired up with. No one liked to be paired with the guy losing every game. 

He sighed as he dried a glass. The bar was pretty empty, but there were a few regulars hanging around. They tipped him generously but he assumed they were just trying to be nice. However, he seriously needed to win his next match or at least come top three if he was to see any large amount of money being placed in his banking account. His mother’s medical as well as in-home nursing bills were becoming incredibly hard to pay at the moment. Elliott tried to push the thought away. He loved his mother with everything he had, but it was becoming harder to walk through those doors to see her, especially when she didn’t even know who he was anymore, or worse, called him by one of his older brother’s names. Elliott paused in cleaning the glass. He tried not to think about his MIA brothers. In the back of his mind, he knew they were probably dead, but it was a hard thing to face head-on and accept. He never even got the chance to say goodbye to them. 

Elliott set the dried glass down with the other clean ones. His shoulders slumped a bit and he was grateful no one was really around or paying attention to him for once. His depressive mood hadn’t left him, unfortunately. His life hadn’t changed much in a week. A part of him really wanted someone to notice he was slowly drowning in his own thoughts and secret sorrow while another part of him wanted everyone to think he was the same funny, charming guy with decoys for friends. He couldn’t imagine anyone actually noticing how he was feeling because he kept up his general cocky attitude around everyone, but when alone, Elliott felt extremely different. 

The nights he sat alone in his bedroom, Walter’s words would drift back into his mind once more. _Hang out._ Elliott hung out with the other legends sometimes. Ramya was around sometimes. He talked to her casually. She was technically his roommate, but she wasn’t _really_ around since she was usually busy modding a gun or doing a custom job for a paying customer. Elliott wasn’t entirely sure how she felt about him in all honesty. He did piss her off last season when the Apex games took them to Olympus and Elliott had packed up all of her things on a ship out of there. She got all her things back eventually, but she was more short with him than it seemed, so he tried to stay out of her way. 

Elliott blinked a few times, realizing he drifted off in thought. Luckily there were no customers waiting on him to take their order. The bar was just as empty as it was before. His shift was over in about half an hour and he willed it to go faster. He wanted to train after. He needed to be at the top of his game for his next match. None of this heads in the cloud bullshit. He needed to be serious this match. 

Much to his luck, the half-hour went by quickly and Elliott clocked out. He’d brought a duffle bag with his uniform he wore in the ring with his Holo tech on it so he could head straight to the training arena. He hoped nobody would be there. He felt like being alone to train today. 

When he arrived, he changed and headed into the arena. No one was present, thankfully, and he sighed in relief. He headed down the dirt hill to the training dummies, guns, and armor. He put on a set of red EVO armor and grabbed the R99 with all the best attachments. From there, Elliott practiced and trained. He practiced his aim, he worked on a few decoy moves, and an hour into his training session with himself, he heard the distinct noise of someone else entering the training arena. 

Elliott stopped and turned around. He squinted up at the top of the dirt hill leading to the entrance, the sun blinding him in the arena, so he couldn’t properly see. He put a hand above his eyes to shield and see who it was and much to his surprise, he saw a familiar face. 

“Elliott! How’s it hangin’?” Walter called out, his accent putting a bit of a drawl on the end of his question. 

“Fuse- I mean...Walter, um it’s han-ha-h-...it's going well.” Elliott stuttered over his words and he sighed quietly. He wasn’t expecting to see Walter anytime soon. “What are you doing here?” 

“Saw ya from up top,” Walter pointed toward the glass windows that were high up above to view the training arena, “Thought I’d come train for a bit. Ya know the match is next week, don’t want to get rusty in between,” He explained, a smirk playing underneath his mustache, he eyed Elliott up and down, “I didn’t know if anyone would be here, but then I saw ya from up top and thought if ya feel up for it and don’t give a rats ass, maybe you’d want to train togetha eh?” 

Elliott was inclined to say no, but before he could Walter spoke again. 

“I was actually wondering if you’d show me a bit of that tech on your arms there.” Walter gestured toward Elliott’s Holo Tech gear on his clothes. 

“I don’t know if I should. We might be enemies in the ring.” Elliott threw a smirk back to him and Walter cocked his head at the statement, “I can’t give my secrets away, you know.” 

“Hm. I suppose ya right.” Walter smiled a bit and unhitched the canon machine from his back. Elliott eyed it curiously. He saw Walter use it in his first match, so he knew what it did. It was a ring of fire that trapped the other players in it or they risked getting burned trying to leave it. “How about we give it a go anyway? Whaddaya say?” 

Elliott couldn’t turn down a challenge, so he said, “Alright, you’re on, eyepatch.” 

Walter laughed, throwing his head back, and walked past Elliott to the EVO armor and guns. Elliott watched as Walter picked up the red EVO armor and put it on as well as grabbing a concerning amount of arc stars. Those things hurt like a bitch if they stuck to you. Elliott wasn’t too concerned. If either of them got hurt in the training arena, they could heal up in the medbay area just outside of the training arena. 

As soon as they were both ready, they went at each other. Elliott successfully got a few bamboozles off on Walter, which boosted his ego and clearly frustrated Walter. However, Walter managed to stick an arc star on Elliott’s arm and it wasn’t too fun when the thing electrocuted him and took most of his armor off. Elliott armor swapped like it was no big deal with a purple EVO shield and dove into cover when Walter nearly caught him in the back with his R99 bullets. The bullets whizzed past him, and he reloaded before jumping out of cover and firing toward Walter. He sent off a decoy to try and distract Walter, but Walter knew better by now and he jumped up on the rock Elliott was using for cover and rushed him from above. 

Caught off guard by the action, Elliott floundered with his gun and was starting to try and move to get out of the away, but Walter’s boot caught on the edge of the rock that was sticking up and suddenly he was falling forward, his gun flying out of his hands. Walter collided with Elliott, knocking their heads together and the two hit the dry dirt ground. 

When the dust settled, Elliott groaned a little, his forehead throbbing with pain. He opened his eyes just as Walter was pushing himself up a little and rubbing his own head, his eye squinted. 

“Damn, my boot caught on somethin’” Walter grumbled and looked down at Elliott, whom he landed on and had roughly broken his fall. Blinking, Walter’s eye widened a bit as the sun caught Elliott’s face, which was glistening with sweat from the training, at a beautiful angle. Elliott really was the handsome fella that the media, fans, women, and some men have raved on about, he realized. Breaking out of his reverie, Walter apologized, “Sorry ‘bout that, mate.” He chuckled and so did Elliott. Walter hastily got off of Elliott and stood, holding his real hand out for him. Elliott grabbed it and got to his feet, brushing the dust off his clothes. 

“No worries, it happens.” He laughed a little. 

“At least I had ya to break my fall, eh?” 

Elliott rolled his eyes, “Yeah and ‘bout knocked me out in the process, thanks for that. I really hope that doesn’t bruise.” Elliott rubbed at his forehead, “Not to mention the arc star you stuck me with.” He inspected where the arc star had caught his arm. It seemed the EVO armor had taken most of the damage. 

“I’m sure you’ll be just fine, mate. Don’t worry that pretty Lil' head of yours.” Walter teased, pushing Elliott’s shoulder in a playful manner. 

After their little incident with the ground, Elliott and Walter decided to take a break. They grabbed a few waters from a refreshment cooler kept in the training arena and sat up against a couple of the rocks. They both took a long sip from their respected bottles and gazed out at the training arena. In a way, it was sort of peaceful. 

“Ya know, I hope we get placed togetha next match, being it Duos and all, I think we’d make a hell of a team,” Walter said, surprising Elliott. 

“What? You think so?” 

Walter shrugged, “Why the hell not? I’d rather be with ya than against ya.” He smirked and gave Elliott a wink similar to the two he gave him a week ago at the bar when they first officially met. 

Elliott cocked his head, “I think you’re the first person to ever say that to me. I think most people think I’m an idiot or-” He shut his mouth and put the water bottle to his lips before he started to spill any more into his thoughts about himself. 

“Well, if it means anythin’ to ya, you don’t seem like a drongo to me,” Walter tipped his head a bit at Elliott, who scrunched his brow together, “That holo tech is pretty impressive and I don’t think many people would be able to make it work as well as you do.” 

“A...what? Drongo? Okay, I have no idea what that means but thank you...I think?” Elliott tapped his chin in thought and confusion. Walter burst out laughing and Elliott couldn’t help the smile that came to his lips. His laughter felt a bit contagious, but Elliott only gave an awkward chuckle. “What’s so hil-h-hilar-...funny?” 

“Oi nothin’ mate, you’re just an interesting fella, ya know?” 

“Oh,” Elliott felt his cheeks redden at the unique compliment, “Thanks?” 

They fell silent again, both finishing off their water bottles and overall resting from their training exercise. Elliott glanced at Walter. He was messing with his metal arm. Elliott cocked his head. 

“Something wrong with your...arm there?” He questioned as Walter moved his wrist from side to side.

“Nah, I think it just needs to get a bit o’ work done on it.” Walter shrugged it off and let his arm relax, “I think launching the grenades is doing a bit of harm to it.” He pursed his lips, looking down at it once more. 

“I could…” Elliott trailed off, the words dying a bit on his lips until Walter looked at him curiously, “Um...I mean...if you want, I could take a look at it.” 

“Ya know a lot ‘bout robot arms, do ya?” 

Elliott chuckled and rubbed the back of his head, “It’s not holo tech, but per-per-...maybe it's similar?” 

Walter shrugged, “Eh, what the hell why not, if you can fix it, I’ll buy ya a coldie? How does that sound?” 

“For real?” Elliott grinned, “You got yourself a deal, eyepatch.”

“Then it’s a date,” Walter smirked slyly as he gave Elliott another wink. Elliott floundered for a moment. _A what now?_

Elliott chuckled nervously, he couldn’t tell if Walter was serious or if he was joking around. 

“Anyways,” Elliott stood up abruptly, “I should head out, um, thanks for the training sesh.” He started to wipe at his clothes. Walter stood up as well, tossing their water bottles in a nearby trash bin. 

“Just let me know when you’re free and want me to take a lo-loo-...a peek at your arm.” Elliott pointed to his arm. 

“Yeah, thanks, mate. I appreciate the offer. If ya free later this week, I’d love to see if I can get it fixed before the next match. Can’t have it buggin’ in the middle of a fight.” 

“Yeah, yeah. Obviously.” Elliott nodded, smiling as he started to back away up the hill, “I’m free this Friday. Just pop by my room. It’s on the third floor of the compound.” 

“I’ll see ya Friday then, Witt.” Walter did a bit of a salute at him with two fingers and Elliott gave a half-hearted wave goodbye as he headed up the steep hill to the training entrance.

When he exited the training compound, he grabbed his duffle bag from one of the lockers there and left. He felt a little jittery from having trained and also because did Walter Fuse Fitzroy just _hit_ on him? He honestly couldn’t tell if the man was kidding or not. He probably should have clarified that. He shrugged at the thought and felt a bit more in higher spirits as he headed for the legends compound housing. 

When he entered, he saw Octavio, Ajay, and Anita hanging out near the pool table. It seemed Anita and Octavio were playing a round of pool and Octavio was losing. Ajay seemed busy reading some sort of magazine in one of the plush chairs in the lobby/lounging area. They didn’t pay him any mind, but Octavio briefly looked up and gave him a wave in his direction.

Elliott threw a wave back and passed them, starting for the elevator. He was looking down at his phone when the elevator door dinged open and he walked forward, colliding with someone, and nearly dropped said phone. Before he stumbled backwards, a cold metal hand gripped his arm tightly, holding him in place. 

“Oww, sorry my bad, I wasn’t wa-wat-wa...I didn’t see you-” Elliott froze when he looked up and saw the hauntingly slim figure and the piercing, glowing yellow eyes of Revenant locked and unwavering on him. For a murder robot with little to no emotional expression, he sure looked annoyed. 

“Watch where you’re going, skinsuit.” He sneered lowly in his deep voice. Elliott nodded slowly. 

“Sorry about that...um…-” Elliott tried to pull his arm from Revenant’s tight grip. As if realizing he was holding Elliott in place, Revenant slowly turned his gaze to where his metal fingers were clasped around the trickster’s arm. Without a word, he slowly released his grip and let his sharp metal fingers slide slowly down his arm and to Elliot’s hand where he, strangely, lingered as if feeling the exposed skin of his hand. Revenant cocked his head with a minuscule movement as Elliott sidestepped once the Simulacrum had ceased all contact with his hand. 

When Revenant moved out of the doorway to the elevator and proceeded to head toward the lounging area where Ajay and the others were by the pool table, Elliott hurried onto the elevator and repeatedly pressed the number three button. Elliott looked up just as the door to the elevator started to close and noticed Revenant looking over his shoulder at him. He made eye contact with the scary simulacrum just as the door slid shut. Damn did that guy creep him out. 

“What the hell was that about….” He murmured nervously to himself, “I hope I didn’t just make his shitlist.” He said to himself and the thought was actually kind of worrying. Elliott wasn’t gonna lie. He was pretty scared of Revenant. The guy was definitely no jokester like he was. 

Trying to put it out of his mind and forget about whatever just happened with Revenant, Elliott headed to his room where he proceeded to change from his holo tech suit. He took a nice hot shower and soon plopped down on his bed, clicking the tv on to watch something.

_“-Mirage wants to see any sort of progress this season, it seems he will need to come with his A-game next Tuesday for the Duos match-”_

Elliott frowned at hearing his name on the television screen. It seemed he was just tuning into some newscast that reported on the Apex games. He immediately switched the channel. He was in no mood to hear his name being tossed around in some reporter's mouth, especially one who has never set foot in the games. It wasn’t as easy as some believed it to be, not to mention, the pain was real. The bullets, yeah, those were real too and they hurt like a bitch. They didn't call it a bloodsport for nothing. The number of times he _technically_ experienced death were innumerable, only to have him open his eyes in one of the respawn chambers with a medic tending to him. 

Feeling his mood sour a little, Elliott lowered the volume on the tv, dimmed his lights, and decided a nap sounded best. When he laid down, he tried to get Revenant’s creepy stare out of his mind. That guy should really just take a chill pill or something. 

* * *

  
  


When Friday rolled around, Elliott honestly kind of forgot about Walter’s arm and how he told the guy he would take a look at it, so when Walter showed up at Elliott’s door at noon with some takeout in one hand and what looked to be like some small tools in the other, Elliott was confused at first. 

“Well, you’re lookin’ lively, aren’t cha?” Walter commented on Elliott’s state of dress and bedhead. 

Elliott was woken by the sound of Walter knocking and he had no excuse for the way he looked. He’d been sleeping in since he didn’t have a shift at the bar today. “We never agreed on a time, so I thought noon would be good, but I can come back later if ya-” Walter started to say, but Elliott shook his head quickly.

“No, no, crap, I’m sorry, I completely forgot we agreed on Friday,” Elliott said, opening his door wider for Walter to step in. 

“No worries, mate,” Walter smirked and stepped into the room, setting the takeout on Elliott’s desk, “I brought some food if you’re feelin’ a bit hungry.” 

“Thanks,” Elliott shut his door and switched on his lights as well as his desk lamp. Walter seemed to be taking in the state of Elliott’s room, either that, or all the Mirage art, posters, and other Mirage things in his room. A lot of it was given to him by adoring fans, “You brought tools?” 

“Oi, yeah.” Walter turned and handed Elliott the small tools. These would definitely help. He was secretly glad Walter had some because he only had the tools he used to work on his holo tech

“Let me grab you a chair-” Elliott spun around and grabbed his most comfortable chair, moving a stack of stuff off of it and pushing it over to the desk. 

“Right-o.” Walter was smiling and Elliott rubbed at his bedhead, realizing he probably looked ridiculous. Walter took a seat to the right of the desk and extended his metal arm across the desk, under the lamp. It provided easy access to the arm and Elliott took a seat at his desk. He cleared a few things away from the desk to have more room to work. 

“So, what kind of issues are you exper-ex-exper-....having?” Elliott looked at Walter, his eyepatch reflecting the light of the lamp. 

Walter smoothed his mustache down in thought, “Well, I’ve noticed it’s been catching a bit when I move it here,” He pointed to the wrist area and Elliott peered closer at it. 

“Move it for me?” 

Walter twisted his wrist a bit and winced when it seemed to snag on something. It made a noise that made Elliott cringe. Similar to what nails on a chalkboard would be to some. It was possibly something internal with the arm or something was twisted. Elliott studied it for a minute. He glanced at Walter when he gently grabbed his wrist and moved it to try and see which movement caused the snag and which didn’t. Elliott hummed and grabbed one of the small tools Walter had brought with him. 

It seemed the part of the arm that launched the grenades was causing a movement/functioning issue with the wrist, which seemed to be causing Walter a bit of pain, he concluded after tinkering with it for a moment. Elliott wasn’t entirely sure he could fix it, but he’d try. Walter was being really patient and watched Elliott with interest. He could feel his eyes on him as he carefully rearranged some wires within the arm. 

“Can you feel still with this arm?” Elliott questioned out of the blue. It'd been a question that'd been burning in the back of his mind for a while now. 

“Feel? What do ya mean?” 

Elliott lightly touched Walter’s arm. “Like can you feel my hand on your arm?” 

As if understanding, Walter turned his wrist, with much less resistance than before and no pain, and held his palm up. Confused, Elliott looked at Walter. 

“Give me your hand.” 

A bit hesitant, Elliott placed the tools down and put his hand into Walter’s metal one. Walter’s fingers closed around Elliott’s hand and no Elliott’s heart did _not_ just skip a beat at that. 

“It’s a bit weird to explain, but yes I can,” Walter smirked underneath his mustache, his eye on their hands, “It’s not the same as if I were to touch ya with my real hand, but…” He trailed off. 

“Ohh…” Elliott murmured and for a moment sat there with Walter holding his hand. 

“So, what’s the diagnosis? Am I gonna live?” Walter joked, breaking the tension in the room _(sexual tension?)_ Elliott’s mind supplied and he waved it away before he released their hands and the moment was gone. 

“I haven’t completely fixed it, but I think I can do it. I might just need time.” Elliott’s brow scrunched together in thought. 

“Well, whatever ya can do for me, if ya alright with that, of course. I’ve got time, at least until the next match.” 

“Oh, I should be able to fix it before then.” Elliott said with a bit of smugness, “I eased the tension that was causing the wrist to snag, so it should be easier to move. I think there is a more technical issue that needs fixing with the grenade launching part, but it should be alright for now.” 

“Well ya saved me a whole lot of money and time, so thank ya for that, mate.” Walter lifted his arm and moved his wrist around. There was no longer that snagging feeling nor that horrible sound it made when it did snag before, “Seems like I’m gonna owe ya more than just a coldie, eh?” Walter was smirking again and there was that wink again. Elliott wasn’t entirely sure what he meant by that. He really didn’t need anything. Was he trying to flirt with him? Elliott didn’t try to think about it in a _dirty_ way, but how could he not? 

Elliott laughed a bit awkwardly, “Hey, you never know. I might just let you off the hook.” 

“Aw, don’t do that mate, I have to repay ya _somehow_ .” When Walter said “ _somehow,_ ” Elliott thought he might be reading too deeply into it, but it definitely sounded like Walter wanted something possibly more than just to grab a couple of drinks with him. 

Elliott decided to roll with it, “Well, I give you my permission to surprise me,” He smirked, “But I’ll hold you to that drink you owe me.” 

Walter broke out into a grin, “Looking forward to it already,” He said, getting up from the chair, “I’ll leave ya to it then, thanks for fixing this dumb thing for me as much as you can.” 

“Yeah, it’s really no problem.” Elliott walked Walter to the door. It hadn’t taken that long to tinker with the arm. He could probably fix the entire thing that day, but it seemed like Walter wanted to jet, so Elliott didn’t push it- 

“I could fix it today, I mean, if you want-” Elliott blurted out, standing in the doorway with Walter out in the hall.

Walter smiled again, “I’d take ya up on that offa, but I actually have a couple o’ things to take care of today. How about tomorrow?” 

Elliott was about to agree, but then remembered he had a shift to cover tomorrow at the Paradise Lounge around three pm. “I work, but you’re welcome to stop by the bar.” He said, trying to keep the hopefulness out of his voice. “I only work until ten, so I can help you after my shift.”

“Yeah, I can pop by for a drink or two,” Walter smirked once more and eyed Elliott up and down, “Thanks again, mate.” 

“Anytime. See you tomorrow?” 

Walter tilted his head and nodded. When Elliott closed the door to his room, Walter’s smile dropped a bit. When he looked up, he saw a guy, a janitor(?), who looked to be changing out the trash bins. The guy briefly glanced up at Walter before passing him down the hall. Other than that, the legend compound was actually pretty quiet. 

When he stepped into the elevator, he moved his metal arm around, especially near the wrist finding that it felt as good as new. “He actually fixed it.” He murmured to himself as the elevator dinged on the floor his own room was located on. He was still busy moving what little things he had into the room since all the legends were required to live in the compound together. He was a bit against it at first, but he had no other choice. He stopped by his room to gather a couple of things before he went off to run his errands, but when he unlocked the door, a piece of paper on the floor caught his attention. Walter frowned and bent, picking it up. 

Seeing the handwriting, he knew exactly who it was from. 

_7 pm. Paradise Lounge. Tomorrow. We need to talk._

_-M_

Walter sighed. When would she give it up? He crumbled the piece of paper up and threw it in a bin. 

“Oh, Maggie…” He sighed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, leave a comment (nice comment) if you enjoyed it or a kudos. Or tell me who else you ship in Apex. I know there are a variety of ships, so I'm curious.


End file.
